Sarina wondered what he was planning to ask. If it was to learn her doppelganger technique, she would reject him once more. He pestered her about it quite a few times already throughout the years... Was it that hard for him to understand that he was too weak to use it? Regardless, from time to time, he gave interesting suggestions and his knowledge in close-range combat was very impressive for his age. So, she kept letting him ask his questions and such. Because there were those worth listening to. This time, she didn't expect much though. There was only a year left after all, what could he try to learn now?
Still, she let him ask and he did without pressure: "Can't you teach me another technique related to the Will?"
She sighed. As she believed, he asked for something like that again. She explained to him once more: "Most of the useful ones are beyond your realm, Jin... And those you could learn in such a short time? They wouldn't be practical for what's to come. You're better of focusing on honing what you have"
He stopped her from lecturing him further. After so long, he knew her quite well. She hated when one wasted her time but she was fine with wasting her herself. Especially when it came to bickering and lecturing. And after x'th time hearing her nagging about those techniques being beyond him, he had enough. This time, however, he wouldn't give up: "You misunderstand. What I meant was to finish learning the intra-extra manipulation. If I could take the battle to the opponent's soul sea, things will go smoothly, right?"
She understood what he meant. But it was the same. Her lecturing incorporated it as well. She patiently explained again as that was the role of the teacher: "You only managed to invade into the corruption's soul sea because he left the door open. Heck, he welcomed you inside as an honorable guest! There are only two situations in which you can invade someone else's soul sea. The first is to be invited and the second is when your 'existence' is many times higher than the target. Do you have to remind you that your 'existence' has yet to heal?"
Jin stayed silent for a moment before he said: "So, does it mean that my 'existence' is weaker than the others?"
She nodded and stated: "Except for mortals and those at the body refinement realm, yes. That doesn't mean it is incapable of fight, it means that you wouldn't be able to dominate others just with it. And forcing yourself into another's soul sea requires that dominance"
Jin concluded: "So, I can't invade them but can't I let them in my own?"
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She nodded and added: "You can. Or rather, you wouldn't be able to stop them from doing so if they tried. Then again, it's not a bad idea. If there were such champions, they would have some decent abilities in the domain. For the you right now, it's best to focus on the physical battle aspects. With this new ability you got, many doors opened"
Jin knew from the start that she would reject his demand. But he didn't ask in hope that she would agree. It was only a way to prepare her for what he truly wanted.
Ask for the moon, be denied, but earn the earth in consolation.
It was a typical business technique that everyone knew, whether instinctively or not. There aren't any humans who have not indulged in bartering after reaching a certain age. Right there, he asked for the impossible so that what he asked next, which he believed was possible, would be seen as cheap and alright to Sarina compared to the previous demand.
So, he asked her: "Then, how about helping me learn a technique beyond the four principles?"
She gazed at him strangely and asked, feigning innocence: "What do you mean?"
He answered without batting an eyelid: "Compression. Teach me that"
She looked at him strangely and sighed. It was something that she let escape while they sparred. It was at the very beginning. She didn't expect him to remember it so vividly to ask for it. She showed it to him only once from a mistake back then... As to how he managed to distinguish it, she had asked and she got particularly surprised with the answer. He seemed to 'see' it as he described his secret technique vaguely. An eyesight technique that let him see the quantity of spiritual energy... She could only admit that was a very powerful technique in essence.
As for whether or not to teaching it to him... There were no reasons he could not learn it. Hypothetically, he fulfilled the requirements which were to be able to use spiritual energy and have a comprehensive mastery in the basic four principles. After so much spars, she witnessed his abilities. He could learn it.
However, there was a reason she did not teach him. There were risks. It was also the reason it was rarely mentioned to beginners and young cultivators. In general, only those beyond the 20th stage were allowed to learn about the technique but even then, very few of them tried it. That was because if the cultivator lost control, he would be harmed by his own energy. This was the only principle in which such a thing could happen.
Compressing the spiritual energy would multiply the potent power of it by many times depending on the amount of compression but it turned it into a dangerous clump of energy. If handled poorly, it would explode and inflict harm on the cultivator. Spiritual energy was harmless to a cultivator if it was his own but not in this case as the compression altered the 'quality' of the energy and turned it into something different from the energy belonging to the cultivator.
It was, however, an incredibly powerful principle and was required in most of the techniques beyond a certain realm.
After pondering for a moment, she decided to agree to his request as she felt it was better than teaching him something related to the will.